Hat tip to Nadler | Unbiased op-ed? | Infrastructure that lasts

Our write-up last week on the potential return of two-way tolling on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge failed to credit Rep. Jerrold Nadler, who has been on top of the issue for years.

The congressman's primary motivation might have been the traffic inundation that free Brooklyn-bound passage for cars and trucks has brought to the lower Manhattan portion of his district, which stretches from the Upper West Side to Coney Island. But Nadler also pays attention to the fiscal impact on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which tolls the bridge. The MTA told him some years ago that it was losing $50 million a year because of the mid-1980s switch to one-way tolling.

Expect the MTA's new study to conclude that the losses are even greater now.

Nadler, a Democrat, raised the issue with Staten Island/Brooklyn Rep. Daniel Donovan as soon as the Republican was elected in May 2015. The recent Crain's story only mentioned advocacy from Brooklyn Community Board 6 as a factor last year in spurring the study, although traffic wonks have long complained about one-way tolling.

Donovan is crucial because restoring two-way tolling requires a change in federal law, something far easier for him to achieve than Nadler because Republicans control the House of Representatives.

Group promises unbiased view on controversial bills

Here's a rarity: Crain's received an op-ed on the City Council's controversial construction-safety bills that does not hue to the union or nonunion positions, but in fact is somewhere in between.

The piece was submitted by an organization that, in the words of its spokeswoman, "strongly maintains its neutrality, focusing solely on construction safety best practices, effective regulations and timely implementation." Read the op-ed here.

How to make infrastructure last

There's a reason much of our transportation infrastructure needs to be replaced or overhauled: It was not built to last.

Let's not make that mistake again, urges an expert from one of the leading engineering and construction firms. Read his op-ed here.

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